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Authors and teenagers share the books that saved their life

From Judy Blume to My Mad Fat Diary to Catcher in the Rye, authors and teen site members share the books that saved their lives – on Blue Monday (whether or not it’s the most depressing day of the year!)
  
  

Teenage boy under bed covers using digital book reader
Teenage boy under bed covers using digital book reader Photograph: Phanie/Alamy

After Jennifer Niven’s top 10 teen books to save your life and to mark Blue Monday (whether or not it exists, Spring still feels a while away) we thought it was high time we had a list of books to pick you up when you feel down. Here authors and Guardian children’s books site members reveal the books that saved their lives…

Patrick Ness, author of More Than This
I’d make an odd choice for the book that saved my life: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, not for a big emotional reason but because it was the first book I read that felt 100% mine, written for me, at that age, not anyone else. The idea of books as my own set of secret worlds has been life-saving more than once since

Nicola Morgan, author of The Teenage Guide to Stress and Blame My Brain
I Can Jump Puddles by Alan Marshall was a book I read over and over as it made me put my own trivial worries in perspective. It’s an autobiography and focuses on the author’s struggle with the effects of childhood polio.

BookRebel, site member
To be honest there hasn’t been a single book that “saved my life”, but there have been books that made me seek the help I need or made me see something different or most importantly help me embrace myself. I have depression and social anxiety and books are my escape from it but sometimes they are also my way of accepting and embracing it, and I think The Manifesto on How to be Interesting by Holly Bourne is one of the latter – so it made not have saved my life literally but it help me save me from myself and I’m thankful for it.

Annabel Pitcher – author of My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece and Ketchup Clouds
I would choose Are you there God? it’s me, Margaret by Judy Bloom because it helped me deal with the conflict in identity that I felt as a teenager. Though I am not from a mixed religious heritage, I am from a devout Christian background, and I spent a lot of time questioning my faith and God. Margaret’s struggle to understand who she was and whether to voice her opinions if they were different to her classmates was very familiar to me. Her pain was my pain, and the questions she asked were the ones I wanted answering. It’s a book I returned to time and again, because I loved working everything out alongside her, and going through puberty with her. We grew up together.

Emybot, site member
A book I’d recommend to anyone feeling down, and which I have often read when I am sad is The Perks of Being a Wallflower; it’s my favourite book and although it’s not particularly happy, it’s not all just sad either. It puts things into perspective and shows not only how fast things can fall apart, but that they will get back together. I love it and recommend it to any readers!

James Dawson, author of Say Her Name, This Book Is Gay and current Queen of Teen
If Only by Geri Halliwell taught me that if you wanted something, and worked hard enough, you can achieve anything. I read it when I was about eighteen I think.

LucyLOVESbooks<3, site member
Saving Daisy by Phil Earle has truly saved my life. At some of the lowest points it was a great reminder that things get better and that I should never give up.

Nic, site member
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Steven Chbosky and My Mad Fat Diary (and the sequel, My Madder Fatter Diary) by Rae Earl. There’s a fine line between something that makes you feel understood and something that triggers. Both of these books balance daintily on the line.

Marcus Sedgwick, author of The Ghosts of Heaven
That would have to be The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, because I’d never read anything that understands people so well, and how everyone is struggling through life in their own particular way.

BritishBiblioholic, site member
I’d have to say that the Skulduggery Pleasant series was really the book which has changed lives – mine and my friends’. I used to be very introverted and thought negatively about myself a lot – thinking I had no friends, people hated me, etc. But when I read that series and made the big decision to go out and meet people at events, I’ve just completely changed and now I’m so much happier. Maybe that’s not exactly what you’re looking for (from me at least) – but for my friends the series has also kept them going, given them hope when things got tough, and also had it as something to cling onto.

Liz Kessler, author of Read Me Like A Book
If I am going through a difficult time, there is one book that will always help me to put my situation into context: The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly, by Jean-Dominique Bauby. This book was written by a man who dictated it, literally one letter at a time, by blinking. Bauby had suffered a massive stroke and his left eyelid was the only part of his body that he could move. When I think of, or re-read, this book, I cannot help thinking that if someone in his position could produce a piece of work as beautiful as this, nothing is really as bad as it seems.

Safah, site member
Louder than Words by Laura Jarratt. It’s difficult to know where to start about just how much this book affected me. While I’m a lot more confident now, when I was younger I was awful at being sociable and something about talking out loud always felt terrifying; even now, writing gives me so much more freedom than my voice does. The main character Rafaela definitely dealt with this too and it was amazing to read a novel I could relate to so much and for that, even with just one book read, Laura’s my favourite author. Rafaela almost feels like a secret friend to me and I love reading over Laura’s beautiful words just to feel understood again, it’s truly the most precious story I’ve ever read. (And one sent to me by the Guardian so thank you so much for that!)

justonemorepage, site member
My first loyalty will always be to Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas – I read it some years ago now, but it’s only since I’ve bought it in paperback that it has become my talisman. It’s been through the hands of others, the suitcases of others; it came back and forth with me all the way through play rehearsals, and all the way through exams. I’ve read it so many times that I know it inside and out. Opening its pages is like sitting down to a cup of tea and a chat with Celaena. It’s my home away from home where I know I’ll not be judged, and even when I don’t have it with me I can whisper the words that saved its protagonist: I will not be afraid. And throughout all of this, I can see that there’s an author behind this book who first wrote it when she was just a teenager like me, and it gives me hope that maybe I can inspire people just as she has inspired me.

Ellam25, site member
I straight away wanted to put forward the book that has helped me through so many times when I have just felt lonely or down. The book that has basically saved my life several times is Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. Just reading bits of this book makes me realise that there are people around me who help and encourage me even without noticing, on a day that I feel alone or down.

Alan Gibbons, author of Hate
The book that saved my life was John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. It showed that you could write about justice in a beautiful, lyrical, mythic style.

TheBookAddictedGirl, teen blogger
I think there have been three books that saved my life. The first was Harry Potter, because it made my life magical. I was seven when I read the first book, already a pretty magic time, but as I got older, I continued to read the series and live in this magical world and my imagination just... flourished. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Hogwarts got me through a lot – fall-outs with friends, the move to high school, going into the wheelchair, being ill, growing up, feeling alone, GCSEs... This series is my comfort-read, the books I always turn to when I’m feeling sad or alone or happy or excited. I’ve reread the books so, so many times that they’re like my best friends now. And best friends are always there for you, there to save your life. Harry Potter gave me my imagination, gave me my daydreaming power and sparked many of my ideas. And so it just keeps saving me.

The second is a series I’m not overly fond of now, but one that was very important to me at the time: Twilight. This was the first true romantic YA book I read and it began my addiction to YA. I also began reading Twilight about when I became wheelchair bound and the pure escapism the series provided really helped me. You can say a lot of things about Twilight (a lot of them negative), but to a tween girl it’s truly addictive. I moved past Twilight a long time ago now, but I still think that it was the series that got me through a hard time and also got me hooked onto paranormal YA books.

The final book that saved me was Before I Die. This book... it devastated me, destroyed me. This was the original YA heart-breaker, before Hazel and Augustus were written down on paper and into our hearts. Tessa’s struggle with cancer and her pain and her hope just really connected with me. I’ve never been dying, but I know how being too ill to move feels like, I know what it’s like to feel like you’re missing out on everything. Before I Die remined me how precious life is and how lucky I am. Yes, it broke my heart so badly I cried for days, but it also made me smile and laugh and love. And, really, is there any better life-saving book than that?

Jboo1698, site member
The book that saved my life is probably The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. I quote him and that specific book a lot, but were it not for me marching into my local Waterstones over a year ago now and being simply captivated by fiction again from that book, I really wouldn’t be here talking about it now. So, it did leave me to take up one of the best things I’ve ever done, so that’s why it’s the book that saved my life.

Delve into Dystopia, site member
The Road by Cormac McCarthy is one of those books that makes you see another side to life. The story follows a father and son surviving in a post-apocalyptic America, with the danger of death around every corner. Though the story is very bleak, it captures the bond of family with the relationship between a father and son. It gives a message that really does stay with you – you have to carry the fire. It’s one of those concepts that stays with you when you are feeling desperate, that if you can see the light in the surrounding darkness, then you will be okay, everything will be okay. If you can carry that message within you, you will be able to fight whatever demons come your way, and see the hope within you.

“You have to carry the fire.”
“I don’t know how to.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Is the fire real? The fire?”
“Yes it is.”
“Where is it? I don’t know where it is.”
“Yes you do. It’s inside you. It always was there. I can see.”

Ayesha, site member
It has to be The Teenage Guide To Stress by Nicola Morgan. This book was an amazing read because it really showed me that I’m not the only one who suffers from problems and that there are many other problems that are oblivious to many people. This book helped me in many ways such as when I was having some relationship troubles with my boyfriend as well as my diet as I have recently been diagnosed with coeliac disease which basically meant I had to say goodbye to bread, cakes, biscuits... Anything that contained gluten. It was a really hard struggle but this book helped me understand that I’m not alone and also gave me some tips on how to get used to it. It also covers exam stress, family troubles, disorders, LGBT and many more issues that cause stress. The reason why it “saved my life” is because it gave me hope and it made me understand things a lot better.

Scouting for Books, site member
The book that saved my life? One that brings together 1. Childhood 2. State and 3. injustice, To Kill A Mockingbird. I remember the first time I bought the book, a few years ago when I was about 10 or 11 and walked into Waterstones with my dad, ready to buy the new Jacqueline Wilson annual when he said I could either buy that or this other book by some author I’d never heard of, he said it in a way that meant you only really have one choice, meaning, get the book you’ve never heard of. Begrudgingly, I got it. To Kill A Mockingbird saved me in a strange way, I guess it saved me from years of waiting to become the person I was going to be: opinionated and awkward, it was a great realisation, not that I didn’t believe in racism or didn’t realise how disgusting it is, but more like didn’t think of it, it made me a tad more cynical.

Gayle Forman, author of If I Stay
I can’t think of a book that got me through a hard time so much as music, which has really always been the thing I’ve leaned on in times of difficulty. Music speaks directly to my emotions so maybe that’s why I find it so comforting and cathartic. The Eels album Electroshock Blues got me through one of the most difficult periods of loss in my life. My husband bought a bootlegged copy while were traveling through China and we’d take turns listening to it and cry. (We bought a legit album when we got home.)

Hawwa, site member
I don’t think I have a certain book that has “saved”” my life, the reason being in a sense, all books change me or shape me in various ways unique to the storyline and characters they present to me. Words wield power, as of course, do images, and no matter what the plot of a novel is, there is always a message to take away; or at least, that’s what I have found. I do have books I return to whenever I am in need of comfort or familiarity though, so I would say these books ‘saved my life’, as they always manage to make me feel lighter, and happier if I had previously felt stressed or worried about something. In my younger years [because I am oh so old now!] I would say The Little House on the Prairie Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and now, in my teenage years: The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale and The Ruby Redfort Series by Lauren Child. Honestly, I will contradict myself and say not because there is any special message I take away from it, but because of the characters. Through copious re-reads I have come to love their personalities and all their quirks; it’s like being around old friends - and isn’t that the perfect cure for a day that you clearly rolled out of the wrong side of the bed into?

Sally Gardner, author of The Double Shadow and Tinder
When I was teenager I absolutely loved Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor. The book was given to me by my stepfather who thought it might help to alleviate the boredom of boarding school. I was fourteen and due to my dyslexia had only just learned to read properly. I hid the book under my mattress in the dormitory as it would have taken away from me if it had been found. I read it at night under my bedclothes by torchlight. It was a world I could escape into. The past – Charles II, the plague, the fire of London – became tangible, alive. The love story lingered and I spent many happy hours of daydreaming about Amber and I think it subconsciously inspired me to write I Coriander.

Cat Doyle, author of Vendetta
Solitaire by Alice Oseman: This is a brave and starkly realistic portrayal of a teenager who is not OK and doesn’t quite know why. Though I read it in my early twenties, the book resonated strongly with me, as I saw, in Tori Spring, a lot of myself. Solitaire shows us that life is far from perfect, that it’s OK to be sad sometimes, and that even during our darkest times, someone will shine a light if we let them.

Orlithebookworm, site member
A book that definitely saved me life was Clair-De-Lune by Cassandra Golds. I don’t know if this book is still sold anymore, and I haven’t seen it since around 2007 when I first read it aged eight, back when mental health still wasn’t really talked about. At school, I could only express myself through my pen, and when I saw people I didn’t know what to say, and felt this huge rush of anxiety every time I was asked to speak, which I had thought just made me weird, that I would live my life paralysed by what I would later learn to be social anxiety. Clair-De-Lune taught me to speak, it taught me that the thoughts in my head could be illustrated just as vividly when I spoke and told them to people as they appeared on paper. It’s a story of how a girl starts to speak after never speaking, and at the time I wasn’t even a great reader. But I firmly believe that not only was it the book that ignited my love of reading, but the book that taught me that sometimes, just sometimes, being myself was just good enough. It truly changed me life, and I think it’s that kind of feeling, that they’re someone else like you, that at such a vulnerable age can truly change everything for you.

Leigh Bardugo, author of Ruin & Rising (The Grisha Trilogy)
The book that saved my life was the novella, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King. Shawshank taught me to adapt but not to give in, to keep the best, most ferocious parts of me intact even as I found my own kinds of camouflage.

MG Harris, Gemini Force One: Black Horizon
I think it’s more likely that the TV show Blake’s 7 “saved” me from some miserable years. No one book, really, there were so many. But if I HAD to pick it would probably be Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. That was something I returned to many times between the age of 13 and 20 and always found comfort there. The poetic language, the nostalgia, the mystery, the sense of a summer at the end of childhood, so beautifully captured.

Tess Sharpe, author of Far From You
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson saved me. It showed me I wasn’t alone when I really needed to know that.

Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, author of The Apple Tart of Hope
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger is a book I read when I was 16. I’ll never forget how I felt when I first encountered Holden Caulfield and all his self-confessed foibles. To me this book is the original YA novel, exploring the inner life of a teen in turmoil - and a source of comfort and humour to generations of readers.

Lauren St John, author of The Glory and The One Doller Horse trilogy
A story that had a tremendous impact on me as a teenager was The Other Side of the Mountain by EG Vallens, the true story of star American downhill skier Jill Kinmont, who, at 18, suffered a near fatal accident in a pre-Olympic competition in the 50s and was paralysed from the neck down. The same week she’d been the cover girl of Sports Illustrated. Her courage, humour and determination to live a life of purpose, helping others, in the face of the wholesale devastation of everything she’d ever worked for and dreamt of, was tremendously inspirational to me and helped me put my own dark times into perspective.

SF Said, author of Varjak Paw and Phoenix
A Wizard Of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin. I read this book at a time in my life when I felt very lost and had no idea what I wanted to do. I’m so glad Le Guin and Ged were there to help me get through it, and find my place in the world.

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We have authors including, Jennifer Niven @jenniferniven, Madeleine Kuderick @kuderickwrites, Matt Haig @matthaig1, Nicola Morgan @nicolamorgan, James Dawson @_jamesdawson, Gayle Forman @gayleforman and Sita Brahmachari @SitaBrahmachari, together with mental health experts Rethink Mental Illness @Rethink and @youngmindsUK ready to talk about teen books and mental health. Please come and join us using #Gdnbluemonday on Monday 19 January from 7-8pm on @GdnChildrensBks.

ShadowKissedHannah, site member
A book which really helped me when I was twelve and still getting used to High School and dealing with my OCD was the Zelah Green duology by Vanessa Curtis. My school only had the second book so I sadly still haven’t managed to read the first, but the second book Zelah Green: One More Little Problem’ really helped me come to terms with the fact OCD is a condition which many sufferers deal with long term, and to deal with it you need to learn to accept its a part of you, one which you have to come to terms with and deal with a day at a time. Vanessa Curtis honestly helped me more than any scary online NHS test or quiz, and reading from Zelah’s perspective felt almost like mine as she shared many of the same fears and struggles as myself. I’ve never felt as alike to a character than Zelah, and Vanessa’s true to life writing about Zelah’s life and her demons (and how she tries to overcome) was truly a bright beacon of hope to me when I thought I was so alone.

abundantly_dramaticT, site member
The book that saved my life, had to be Far From You by Tess Sharpe. The main character of the book, Sophie, hits so many obstacles throughout the novel and we discover the many difficult hurdles she jumped in her past. The strength Sharpe’s main character had inspired me. Even though it is all fictional, Sophie’s ability to overcome her main problem, stand by her best friend with conflicting emotions and witness a traumatic tragedy was a symbol of hope. She never gave up and she always believed in herself, even when everyone she knew turned against her and it all seemed pointless without that one person, she woke up everyday and managed to stay on track. For a much longer time than I’d like to admit it was hard for me to want to wake up. It was hard to not want to burst into tears, lose it and just say ‘I’m done.’ But Sophie never did that and after a long time of not being able to pick up a book, I picked Tess Sharpe’s book up and slowly broke out of my shell. Books in general are a sort of kind of magic, but this one had just enough magic in it to give me back a little bit of my strength. We may not all be able to relate directly to Sophie Winters’ problems and the things she saw, but I think we could all use a bit of a pick-me-up after an involuntary hiatus from the world of magic.

Find out more about Far From You in the Guardian Teen book club.

lifeissweetinbooks, site member
A book that completely saved me through the moment of stress and the period of times where I needed something to keep me going is Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. The reason for this is because the books pull me into the Shadowhunter world and when I’m reading it I feel as if I`m actually there and not sitting reading the book. The characters are also 100% lovable and I can see myself being great friends with the characters. And of course Will Herondale. One of the most perfect fictional boyfriends. The plot of the book intrigues me. Tessa and Will also love reading: what isn’t better than your most favourite characters loving to read?

The Dormouse, site member

A book that ‘saved my life’ is Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield because as well as being a lovely story to get lost in (“a fairy story with its feet half on the ground”, as the author put it), the three girls worry about smaller things that matter anyway like looking stupid, wearing the wrong thing and making money go further. I don’t think I’ve read any other book that has such relatable characters as the three heroines just because they are so real. Ballet shoes is for anyone who needs some fellow worriers and dreamers to help them along.

some-infinities-katie, site member
When I was younger (about 7-10), the Clarice Bean series always brought a smile to my face, and my best friend and I could talk about it for hours. But in the summer of 2013 I discovered The Hunger Games. This is a series I have re-read at least three times. It saved my life because it was the book that introduced me to the dystopian genre, and it gave me a different reality to escape to. Since then, I have come across even more life-saving books. For a start, there’s The Fault in our Stars, a book that made me laugh and cry, sometimes simultaneously! As you may know, my username comes from a quote from this book; ‘Some infinities are bigger than other infinities.’ This is also one of those books that makes you realise how lucky you are. And of course, the quotes always bring a smile to my face. Sticking to contemporary, there is Eleanor and Park. It really is a beautiful story, one I’ve re-read twice. It saved my life because of the message it brings; you never have to fit in. In the writing world, Vivian Versus the Apocalypse saved my life. It shows that you don’t have to conform to the trends of a particular genre to write a fabulous book. (Thank you, Guardian Children’s Books, for sending me that!) Another book the Guardian sent me that has really made a different is All the Bright Places. It really felt special to me, one of those books you want to keep to yourself. It’s so beautiful. Gosh, this list is longer than I planned. But I think all the books on here have shaped me in one way or another. My final choice is Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I am re-reading it at the moment, and picking up on some beautiful and horrifying details that I didn’t notice a year ago. This is the first ‘adult’ book that I have read and loved. I first read it aged twelve, and even then I had a sense of the enormity of what Ishiguro accomplished in one book. It saved my life because I feel connected to Kathy.H and it is a book I have on my iPod, so I frequently read it out and about as a chance to escape to an alternate reality. It also sparked an interest in the controversial topic of the book (which I won’t state for fear of spoiling the surprise).

Laura137, site member
The book that really saved my life is Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas. It came at a time when I needed something or someone like a new character to very much cling too and take strength from. Celaena completely does this for me and continues to even now. When my grandmother has a particularly bad day with her Alzheimer’s or there are other problems at home or college is getting on top of me I always know I can take 15 minutes to just get into Celaenas head and its so calming and strengthening. The things Celaena’s been through and how she keeps picking herself back up and still has the hope and happiness left to still smile and enjoy life just inspires me and reminds me that even when I feel really down, life will get better.

Amy
The Magicians of Caprona by Diana Wynne Jones – I read it the summer after my father killed himself. I was eleven, about to start a new school, and for a time I just hid in it. The characters were real to me, and their hope and bravery were a huge comfort. I’m not sure that it saved my life but it did show me a different kind of life, full of family and magical adventure. And I think I realised then that I could try to achieve at least some of that in my own life, no matter what was going on around me at that time.

Sucheta
It would be Anthem by Ayn Rand. I read it at age 22. An 80s child from a Bengali nuclear family where collectivist is the way to be, this book helped me articulate the crucial second argument of the thesis of my rebellion which spiritually freed me. It gave me comfort and courage in my lonely quest for clarity.


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